This essay examines how family-related violence was depicted in art in Sweden during the 70s, 80s and 90s. A major shift in the views of violence within the family and in relationships occurs during this period, which becomes evident through a change in laws but is also visible in an ongoing social debate. Basing my research on a number of works by female artists, depicting violence, I have analysed ways of interpreting and understanding the violence in these images, in relation to the changed views on family, gender roles and violence. The female perspective on violence is often the same as the perspective of the violated, and I have chosen to study female artists, thus assuming that a changed attitude is most clearly reflected in this group.The artists included in the study are Marie-Louise Ekman, Marja Ruta, Kristina Abelli Elander, Maria Lindberg, Maria Friberg and Monica Larsen Dennis, Helene Billgren, Tuija Lindström, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Anna-Maria Ekstrand and Annika von Hausswolff.The works are grouped into four categories based on a model created by Gregory H. Stanton, which he developed in the survey of genocide. His model depicts ten stages in which violence slowly increases. My division is in four stages and is named structural violence, embodied acts of violence or abuse, crime victims or traces of crime, and consequences of violence. Seen over the period covered by the study, one can observe an increase in the number of images with violent content. The depictions change from being political messages to becoming more provocative and questioning power structures. This is a development which is happening simultaneously with the breakthrough of postmodern art.The artists have in several works been influenced by or relate to images of violence shown in news media and popular culture, a genre that grows during the 1980s home video epoch. But the art not only interacts with other visual media, it also wants to involve the viewer by exploring and questioning values and hierarchies in society.The girl as a symbol of an innocent victim is represented in several of the works, and the girls are given a much greater freedom of action in the artworks than in reality. A concealed aggression is made visible and in several of the works the girls act violators.Depiction of violence has not been treated as a theme or categorized as a separate genre in the arts. To the extent that I have found analyses of works containing violence in the arts, there has been a hesitative attitude and the images have been perceived as simple in a communicative or interpretive aspect. In my study, I come to another conclusion, Seeing that the processing of violence in the artistic works creates a counter-image to stereotypical and simplified images in media and and so helps us to see the normative values, power imbalances, behaviours and expectations that are often the basis for acts of violence.

Inledning: Våld i nära relation är ett erkänt problem som finns världen över och som påverkar samhället samt folkhälsan negativt och det kan kopplas ihop med viktiga angelägna frågor som fattigdom, sjukdomsbörda och de globala målen för hållbar utveckling. Trots att det finns flertalet internationella och nationella handlingsplaner, strategier samt målsättningar kvarstår problemet. Vilket också borde tolkas som ett misslyckande från samhället och ett svek mot dem som dagligen lever i utsatthet. Våldet medför stora konsekvenser för den enskildes livskvalité, både fysiska, psykiska och strider mot de mänskliga rättigheterna. Det är många barn som lever i familjer där våld förekommer och risken för att barnen påverkas negativt både på kort- och långsikt är mycket hög. Alla i samhället måste ta sitt ansvar, dra sitt strå till stacken och börja bidra föratt kunna sätta in relevanta, långsiktiga och målinriktade åtgärder för att förebygga våld i nära relation. Skolan borde ses som en central och betydelsefull aktör som kan ha en avgörande roll för det förebyggande arbetet gällande våld i nära relation. Det är där barnen tillbringar många timmar om dagen för att utvecklas, utbildas samt socialiseras in isamhället och det är också där skolan kan förebygga och upptäcka barnen som kan tänkas bli eller är utsatta. Därför har det varit angeläget att undersöka om och hur grundskolor i en stor svensk stad kan arbeta förebyggande gällande våld i nära relation genom att intervjua rektorer samt lärare. Detta för att få en ökad kunskap och förståelse om skolans kunskap samt erfarenheter gällande de förebyggande arbete mot våld i nära relation. Metod: För att besvara studiens syfte och frågor har en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer tillämpats. Av totalt 54 tillfrågade skolor från två kommuner svarade två skolor ja, varav två rektorer och fem lärare. Efter intervjuerna har de transkriberats för att analyseras och bearbetas genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys för att hitta djupet och relevanta mönster för studiens syfte. Resultat: Det som framkommit av respondenterna i intervjuerna är att skolorna arbetar till viss del med förebyggande arbete genom dagligt värdegrundsarbete men att arbetet behöver utvecklas. Vidare framkommer det av respondenterna att skolan har bristande kunskap inom området vilket skapar en osäkerhet hos berörda. Men de lyfter också att de har förutsättningar att arbeta förebyggande gällande våld i nära relation samt vikten av relationen mellan lärare och barnen. De hinder som framkommit handlar om svårigheter i samarbete med socialtjänsten vilket främst berör sekretessen och att det mer består av informationsöverlämnande än samarbete. Diskussion: Resultatet har under diskussionen analyserats och satts i sammanhang till tidigare forskning och teorierna self-efficacy och relationskompetens. Vidare har även studiens styrkor och svagheter diskuteras under metoddiskussionen. Slutsats och framtida forskning: Den slutsats som kan dras utav studien är att skolan är en viktig skyddsfaktor för barn som kan tänkas bli eller är utsatta. Det är viktigt att skolan tar sin roll samt anmälningsplikt på allvar. Men det behövs mer utredning och forskning inom flera områden, som att öka kunskapen om våld i nära relation inom skolan, hur skolan kan arbeta förebyggande mot våld i nära relation och om det ska ingå i skolans ordinarie uppdrag samt utveckla samarbetet mellan skolan och socialtjänsten. / Introduction: Intimate partner violence is a recognized problem that exists worldwide andnegatively affects society and public health, and it can be linked to important pressing issuessuch as poverty, the burden of disease and the global goals for sustainable development. Despitethe fact that there are several international and national action plans, strategies and objectives,the problem remains. Which should also be interpreted as a failure on the part of society and abetrayal of those who live in vulnerability on a daily basis. The violence has majorconsequences for the individual's quality of life, both physical and psychological, and conflictswith human rights. There are many children who live in families where violence occurs and therisk of the children being negatively affected both in the short and long term is very high. Everyone in society must take their responsibility, do their part and start contributing to be ableto implement relevant, long-term and targeted measures to prevent intimate partner violence. The school should be seen as a central and important actor that can have a decisive role in thepreventive work regarding intimate partner violence. It is where the children spend many hoursa day to develop, be educated and socialized into society and it is also where the school canprevent and detect the children who may be or are vulnerable. Therefore, it has been importantto investigate whether and how elementary schools in a large Swedish city can workpreventively regarding intimate partner violence by interviewing principals and teachers. This is to gain an increased knowledge and understanding of the school's knowledge and experiencesregarding the preventive work against intimate partner violence. Method: In order to answer the study's purpose and questions, a qualitative method with semistructured interviews has been applied. Out of a total of 54 surveyed schools from two municipalities, two schools answered yes, of which two principals and five teachers. After the interviews, they have been transcribed to be analyzed and processed through qualitative content analysis to find the depth and relevant patterns for the purpose of the study. Results: What emerged from the respondents in the interviews is that the schools work to some extent with preventive work through daily value-based work, but that the work needs to bedeveloped. Furthermore, it appears from the respondents that the school has a lack of knowledge in the area, which creates uncertainty among those concerned. But they also emphasize that they have the conditions to work preventively regarding intimate partner violence and the importance of the relationship between teachers and children. The obstacles that emerged are about difficulties in cooperation with social services, which mainly concernsconfidentiality and that it consists more of information handing over than cooperation. Discussion: During the discussion, the results have been analyzed and put in context to previous research and the theories of self-efficacy and relational competence. Furthermore, the study's strengths and weaknesses have also been discussed during the method discussion. Conclusion and future research: The conclusion that can be drawn from the study is that schoolis an important protective factor for children who may be or are vulnerable. It is important that the school takes its role and reporting obligation seriously. But more investigation and researchis needed in several areas, such as increasing knowledge about intimate partner violence within the school, how the school can work preventively against intimate partner violence and whether it should be part of the school's regular mission, as well as developing cooperation between the school and social services.

Among all the types of violence against women the economic abuse does not always appear that often in the context of domestic abuse. Previous research interprets and categorizes economic abuse as physical violence and controlling behavior and is not distinguished for what it can imply for the life of the woman. Men’s economic abuse against women can therefore affect women’s life in a lifelong and/or life sacrificing way. The aim of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of social workers experiences of men’s economic abuse against women in heterosexual relationships and which consequences it may have for the women. The study is based on eight individual qualitative interviews with social workers and women shelter employees, both with and without a bachelor’s degree in social work. The empirical findings have been thematically analyzed with Yvonne Hirdman’s theory of gender system as a foundation. The result shows that the connection between the theory of gender system and men’s economic abuse against women, forms for example in gender contracts. The result also shows that social workers' experiences are that abused women suffer from multiple consequences of economic abuse, even after a separation, which can have lifelong negative impact for women as victims of violence.  The gender perspective is useful in social work, to understand and interpret men’s economic abuse against women, and to prevent reproducing these systems. It is also important to acknowledge the consequences, for women, that emerge after the separation to create a stronger safety network for women that have been victims of men’s economic abuse.